Redemption
by AteneaB
Summary: My own version of season 5... Sylar is dead and everyone are trying to go back to their lifes as normal as possible, but the world needs to be saved... again... and our heroes must come back. Who is the threat this time?
1. The begining

**Ok, this is my first atempt of a Heroes's fanfiction. I just wat to say that English is not my first lenguaje so... don't be too mean, ok?... I'm trying to keep the show's original format here, but like I said, I'm just trying.**

**This is set right after season 4 so it contain ****a lot of spoilers****. You have been warned!**

**Disclaimer:**** I obviously don't own Heroes... or Nathan wouldn't have died!**

**I hope you like it!**

Chapter One: The begining

_Sometimes it's difficult for people to know what's right, what's wrong, what are they suppose to do... Maybe it's becasue nobody knows for sure... _

_We live. We act for some kind of inertia, hoping tha__t behind every little act there will be some mayor reason... hoping that every move we make will lead us to a big destiny and we wait for life to make the call that will change our whole existence. But sometimes, when the moment arrives and we finally find out what the world is expecting from us, we also discover that maybe we are not ready, that all that waiting wasn't enough to prepare us for that big destiny. And that's when we begin to wonder if we will be able to sort such a challenge, if we are that specials that we will be able to find the right way that will made us became heroes, and we won't turn into the wrong one that will made us villains..._

**The Company 2.0, ****New York city – Angela Petrelli & Noah Bennet**

"So... what's the plan?" he asked her.

Angela rised an eyebrow.

"What exactely do you mean?"

"You know... about Nathan. He hasn't been himslef lately. Posibely because of the fact that he is not 'himself'" she just smirked, but didn't say anything. He insisted "Claire just wants to go to Washington University to be near him, you know that, right?"

"What's your point Noah?"

He looked at her not understanding how she didn't get the problem yet.

"I don't want Claire being near... 'Nathan'. It's dangerous, she..."

"Don't be ridiculus Noah" she interrupted him "Claire can't get hurt, and Nathan is not a problem. She is his daughter and he would never hurt her. He loves her"

Her tone was terminant but Noah wasn't going to give up on that one, she was being unrasonable and she had to see it.

"Angela, please. You could always convince Claire to go to another collage..."

"I won't do that and you know it Noah. This is Nathan's opportunity to repair his relationship with his daughter and he needs it, so don't insist. Besides... this is not about Claire, you are just afraid that she would became to love Nathan more than she loves you, he is her real father after all"

He should have said something about it, but he couldn't... he just couldn't deny it.

"HE is not her father" he managed to say after a while.

"Yes, he is" she simply stated "Never forget that"

He didn't push the issue after that. Yes, HE was Nathan now, but he couldn't stop himslef to wonder just for how long he would be, how long would it take him to find out that he wasn't in fact Nathan.

"I have good news for you" Angela told him, changing the subject. She hanged him a red carpet that he began to examine inmediately "We found her"

Noah looked at the photo of the brunette women smirking at him, then he turned his eyes to Angela again.

"She could be a problem"

"Certanly, but we need her now" Noah looked at Angela, totally confused "Peter is not doing too well with ship-shifting, and I need him to keep that ability for now" she explained.

"That's all the information I'm going to get, right?"

Angela smirked.

"Go find her"

Noah nodded.

"And Noah..." she called him, stoping his way to the door "'One of us, one of them', remember? Take Peter with you"

"Angela, he won't be able to..." he began to argue.

"You are becoming very annoying, Noah. You used to follow orders" she told him "Take Peter with you"

**Peter's apartment, New York – Peter Petrelli**

"Shit!"

Peter looked his reflection in the mirror and cursed one more time. His eye was blue. Stuck... _again_... He moved it one way and the other a few times trying to make it brown like the other one, but it was futile.

It wasn't the first time one of his body parts changed when they weren't suppose to. It was beginig to be very annoying.

He couldn't understand why his mather wouldn't let him take another ability to get rid of that one. She said it was because she had big plans for him and that she would explain later. She never did, at least not yet.

Peter sighed in resignation. No matter what, his mather would always be cryptic.

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"_Peter, we have a mission"_

"Noah, I have to go to work"

"_No, you don't. I'll pick you up"_

Peter sighed again, this time in annoyence. Why people keep thinking that they could use him whanever they want?

"Ok. At least tell me what are we going to do..." he asked.

"_We are going to pay a visit to an old friend of mine..."_

Peter didn't know what all of that was about but he was certain that that "friend of Noah", surely wasn't going to be that happy to see him.

**Washington University - Claire Bennet**

Claire tried one more time before hanging up the cell phone. Her father wasn't answering his phone, as usual. Noah had been very busy with the new company but you would say that he would have had five minutes for his nervous adoptive daughter at her first day of collage, right? Evidentely, he hadn't.

She had recentely arrived to the campus and she was so nervous... she needed some support.

Claire picked the phone again and searched in her speed dial the number 2.

"_Yes?"_

"Hi Nathan, sorry to interrupt you I just... I don't know, it was a stupid idea" she apologized. Nathan was a Senator after all, he was very busy.

She could hear him laugh at the other side of the line.

"_Don't be ridicoulus Claire, you are never an interruption. In fact, I'm glad you called, it's been a long time since the last time we really talked"_

She smiled and nodded, just to notice that he couldn't see her.

"I'm at the university and..." she was unsure whatever to tell Nathan or not. He didn't know her that much and she didn't want him to think she was stupid.

"_Nervous?" _he asked, certanely understanding the problem.

"Yes" she admited.

She heared him laugh again.

"_Don't be, you'll do gr__eat. Everyone is going to love you, how couldn't they?" _he assured her sweetly.

She smiled again. There he was, her father, her _biological_ father, the Senator, the man she had met just months ago, conforting her when her _other_ father, the man who rised her, wasn't.

"Thank you. I know you are busy so I really apreciate this" she told him. She needed him to now how important it was for her not to be alone in that moment that meant so much for her... how important it was that _he_, of all people, had been there for her.

"_I always have time for you. Never doubt to call me. And don't thank me, I'm your father, it's kind of my job to be there for you"_ she felt a tear falling in her cheek when he said that _"I know I haven't done a good job before, and I'm sorry. But I want to make it up to you. I really want to make things right this time Claire. I don't want to loose you again..."_

He was being honest, she could tell. And for the first time Claire felt that he _wanted_ to be her father, not that it was some kind of obligation.

"Don't worry. You're doing just fine" she told him.

"_Well, 'fine' is not enough, but it's a start. You deserve 'wonderfull', so I'll keep trying..." _he told her. She could almost hear his warm smile _"Take care of yourself, ok?"_

"I can't get hurt, remember?" she joked "I will, don't worry" she added after a while.

"_Ok. I'__ll be missing you. Promise you will call me if you need anything, ok?"_

"I promise"

She wanted to laugh at how much effort Nathan was doing to sound like a father. But, then again, his concern really sound sincere.

"_Alright. I gotta go now"_ he told her.

"Ok... I..." she wasn't sure if she should say what she was going to say, but after some thinking, she just said it "I love you"

There was a brief silence before Nathan talked again, and when he did, his voice sound almost broken.

"_I love you more..."_

She smiled one more time before hanging up. She felt certanely better after talking to Nathan, like that was what she needed it.

Claire took a long breath, before she took her bag and began to walk to her dorm. This couldn't be so difficult, right? Everything was gooing to be just fine... or that was what she thought.

**The Senator's office, Washington D.C – Nathan Petrelli**

He hunged up his cell phone and put it on his desk before taking his face into his hands. After a while he got up and began to peace in his office.

"_She said she loves me..."_ he tought, kind of surprised and still very moved by her words _"She have never told me she loves me before..."._

He could feel the tears that he had stopped just seconds before with a lot of effort coming back.

Nathan was concious that he had really screwed up with Claire before, and he really wanted to win his daughter back, he just didn't know how. But she had told her he was doing just fine... That had to mean something, right?

He opened his cell phone and watched at the photo Meredith had snaped for him long ago, the only one he had of Claire not beign a baby. She was so beautiful, so much like her mother... The same blue eyes, the same smooth skin, the same enchanting smile... But he could tell she was his daughter: she had the Petrelli look, and the Petrelli stubbornness.

He alreadey missed her, and he had just talked to her.

"_You are such a sap..."_

Nathan turned around looking for the origin of the voice. But he was alone.

"_Exactly Nathan... You are alone..."_

Nathan turned again. Where the hell was that voice coming from? He knew that voice, but... that was imposible.

"_Nothing is imposible Nathan"_

Nathan turned again and then he saw it... the mirror just across his office.

"_What is it Nathan? Are you scared?"_

"Who are you?" he asked, not walking near the mirror.

"_Oh, you know who I am!"_

"Who are you?" Nathan asked again rising his voice.

"_Why don't you see it by yourself?"_

Nathan approched the mirror slowly, almost scared. The he saw instated of his own reflection, he wasn't expecting it.

"Hello Nathan... Missed me?" he said.

"Sylar..."

**Well, that's it for now. And for those of you that are wondering where the hell are Hiro, Ando, Tracy and the others… just wait, they will be ****appearing soon! Be patient!**

**Let me know if you liked it or not! Criticism is good when it's done with respect! Review, please!**


	2. The mannequin man’s girl

**Oh, I am so happy that you liked the begining of this fanfic! I have a lot of ideas so I hope I finish this before the real season begins (that it's the fourth and not the fifth as I thought...) because otherwise I'll have a lot of problems trying to mantein this totally original (at least as much original you can get from an idea that's not enterely yours, right?)**

**I still have some problems thinking what to do with Hiro and Ando... I want to include them but I don't have any ideas for them so, if you have one, I would appreciate it!**

**I hope you like it, and thank you for your reviews!**

**This is set right after sea****son 3, Volume 4: Fugitives (the last one...) so it contains ****a lot of spoilers****. You have been warned!**

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Heroes... **

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Chapter Two: The mannequin man's girl 

_The human race had always wanted the secret for eternal life, since Nicolas Flamel and the philosopher's stone. And we want to live forever because we are afraid to die. Life is something we know, it may be difficult sometimes, or sad, or painfull, but we already know that, it's not unexpected.__ But death... we know nothing about death: it could be horrible, it could be wonderfull, it could be anything... it could be nothing... Whatever it is the after life is totally unknow so we cling into life as much as we can in an attempt to hold into something we know hoping the unknow never comes..._

_But what's the price for eternal life? In a world where everyone must die someday, how lonley it would be to be the only one that stays forever? How painfull it would be to remain here just to get to see all the ones you love go eventually away? Who would stay with you when everyone is gone?..._

_So I wonder, is it worth it to live forever just because you are afraid to die if you must live forever... all alone?_

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**New York city**** – Peter & Noah**

"Your eye is blue"

That had been the first thing Noah said when he opened the door. Peter just rolled his eyes in annoyence.

"Don't you think I know that already?" he asked him sarcastically.

Noah rised an eyebrow.

"If you already knew, why didn't you fix it?"

Peter finged to be thinking.

"Mmm... maybe because I can't!" he almost yell.

"You don't have to get upset, you know?"

Peter sighed. He wasn't upset, he was pissed, he was furious!

"They will fire me" he stated "I hadn't gone to work for almost a week now. When is not this damn ship-shifting, is a mission, or..."

"Stop complaining, would you?" Noah interrupted him "We are trying to save the world here"

Peter just sighed again.

"Save the world? From who this time? Sylar is dead"

Noah gave him a look before getting in the driver's seat of the car.

"I don't know yet" he addmited "But your mother seems pretty sure that she's the key for everything"

He hanged Peter the red carpet with the photo of their target.

"Who is she?"

"Mel Williams. She is one of the people who scaped from Level 5. We just found her"

Peter took away his look from the photo and looked at Noah.

"What can she do? Why is she so important... or dangerous?"

Noah smirked.

"You'll see. It's amazing..." he said. After a while he added "But Peter, I must warn you: never trust her. She's a great actress..."

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**New York**** city **

"Ckeckmate!"

He laughed a little while he sees her smiling at his defeated king. She laughed too watching him with a lot of atention.

"Why do you always do that?" she asked. He gave her a confused look before she talked again, explaining herself "Why do you always let me win?"

It wasn't an acusation, he knew that. She wasn't mad, she was just curious. She never got mad at him.

"Because I love the way you laughs when you do" he answered.

She smiled at him. A _true_ smile. They both stayed in silence for a while before he sighed and talked again in a resigned tone, the same he always used to have that conversation.

"I am not real, you know that. You should be living your life... with _real_ people..."

"I don't have a life Brian, _you_ know that"

She hadn't sotpped smiling, not even for a second. He answered her smile with one of his own.

"Sometimes you _have to_ let go... Everyone dies eventually..."

That was when she lost her smile.

"Not you. Not me. Ever"

She was terminant and sounded almost childish, she knew that, but she didn't care. He had to understand that there was no discusion in that matter.

"Then live. Don't waste your time playing chess with a mannequin man"

"Don't refere yourself as that Brian"

He smiled. He knew she hated it.

"God knows how much it costs your time alive... for everyone... You really shouldn't waste it on me anymore"

"You are the only one I have left... My family. My best friend. Sometimes my lover... Do you really think I would ever leave you?"

She didn't know how to say it so he would finally understand, so he would stop insisting on the topic for good.

His smile turned sad as he touched her cheek with his hand.

"No, but you should" he got closer to her face "You deserve more than a fantasy love. You deserve _real _love and you must understand... that I am not real"

"I know" she wishpered stroking his blond hair with her fingers "But you will always be real to me" and she kissed him softly on his lips.

That's when someone opened the door and a woman entered the room.

"Claudia, playing with that doll again?" she teased her.

Claudia turned around and glared at her.

"He's not a doll, Jane"

Jane rolled her eyes.

"Ok, mannequin… And a very old one, in fact. How long have you got it anyways? When I met you, you already had it"

"_He_ has a name. He's Brian. And he has being with me since... forever..."

Jane looked at her like she was crazy.

"You know Claudia? If you weren't such a great artist, I would say you are insane"

Claudia laughed while she got up and made her way to the door.

"Let's go. There is a lot of work to do. That paintings will not restore themselves" she said.

Before she closed the door, she looked at him one more time: the static blond mannequin man sat on the chair in front of a chessboard.

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**Los Angeles**** – Matt Parkman**

"Janice! I'm home!"

Matt wait for her wife to welcomed him home, but she didn't.

"Janice!" he called her again. He got no answer.

He began to get worried. The house was too quiet. Not even a sound.

"_Matt__y"_ he thought in desperation.

He ran from room to room looking for his baby until he entered to the baby's room and then he saw it.

"Hi Parkman"

Matt opened his eyes in surprise. _"How...?"_

Sylar had his baby on his arms, looking at him, _smiling_ at him...

"I want my body back Parkman"

"I don't know what you are talking about..." he tried, his eyes never leaving his son.

"I could kill him. I could hurt him" Sylar hissed looking at the baby who laughed not knowing wht was happening "But that wouldn't be funny, right?"

Matt didn't know what to say, didn't know wath to do...

"Or I could make him disapear, and you would never see him again..."

There weren't to much options. Sylar had his son and if he tried something... it was too dangerous...

"But I won't do any of that Parkman" Sylar assured him "If only you give me what I want"

Matt tried to breath and stay calm while he asked:

"And what do you want?"

Sylar smirked

"I want my body back..."

The image began to fade away... Matt didn't understand...

When he opened his eyes he was sitting on the table and his wife was looking at him very worried.

"What happend?" he managed to ask.

She sighed and trew him a picture of a man with a baby on his arms. The man was certanly Sylar, and the baby his son. The same image he had seen just second before.

"You draw it" she explained "I didn't even know that you could draw"

He looked at the drawing carefully. _"I want my body back"_. He could still hear him. He could still feel the fear and desperation.

"What does this mean Matt?" Janice asked. But she knew better than to expect the true.

Matt smiled, he didn't know how he did it but he did, he smiled at her.

"Nothing, I promise"

His eyes returned to the picture. That future was not happening. Not if he could prevent it.

"I have to make a call" he told his wife before taking his cell phone and getting out of the house. He searched for the number. He had to speek with Angela Petrelli.

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**New York – Peter & Noah**

They stopped in front of a museum. The old building had a gothic style, with some gargoyles standing at the edge of the roof.

"Ok, remember this" Noah said "We just want to talk to her, this shouldn't be a problem but it's Mel we are talking about here so... it may be a problem"

Peter rised an eyebrow and look at him.

"If we just want to talk, why are you having a gun with you?"

"Just in case she doesn't want to cooperate. But don't worry, she's smart, she knows better than that"

Peter didn't say anything. Noah seemed to have a very high concept of that women...

"I wouldn't be so sure... I mean, I've been in Level 5 and it isn't a cute place. Most of that people hate you and the other ones want to kill you"

"_Why wouldn't they?"_ he added in the inside of his head, but decided not to say it aloud.

Noah looked at him and smiled.

"Not Mel. She is a women of convenience. If you give her a good argument, she will be at your side" said and charged the gun.

"And our argument is that we will put a bullet in her head if she doesn't?"

Noah glared at him. _"Exactly"_, he thought. He didn't want to kill her, they needed her (he didn't know why yet, but he knew they did) but they couldn't afford having her around the world either, it was too risky...

They entered the building to be greet by a blond women.

"Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of Art!"

"We are looking for Claudia Jeffreys" Noah said inmediately.

Peter gave him a confused look while the women smile and ask them to wait for a minute.

"Claudia?" he asked in a wishper.

"Just trust me, ok? And remember: no matter what, never trust her..."

Peter hadn't a chance to ask what was happening, the women from erlier came back and told them to follow her.

"Claudia is one of our most talented interns" she comented to Peter while she guided them downstairs into the darkness "Jane said once that it wouldn't be too long until someone from another museum came asking for her..."

Peter just smile. So that was who she thought they were, guys from a museum that just wanted to contract that girl Claudia... They stopped in front of a white door.

"She is inside restauring a painting. She's young but great"

The woman leave then and Noah knocked at the door. Not too much later a girl opened it. It wasn't the girl from the photo, Peter was sure of that, she wasn't even brunette. Her red curls fell over her shoulders, her eyes were bright green, her smile had a touch of innocence, her look was kind and almost sweet. No, defenitely not the girl from the photo. That one was totally different: curly auburn hair, almost brown; her brown eyes had that threatening and mocking look; and her smirk... well, you could tell she was dangerous just looking at it. So Peter didn't understand why were they there in the first place. Weren't they looking for that Mel girl? What had this Claudia to do with her?

There was no time to think. Noah entered the room pushing the girl inside and ordering Peter to follow him shutting the door behind him. Peter didn't react until he saw Noah pointing his gun at the girl's head and heared her scream with fear.

"Noah! What the hell are you doing?!"

Noah just ignored him.

"So... here we are again Mel..."

Peter looked at him, evidently confused, then at the girl and when she wishpered and almost inaudible: "Who?..." that she didn't dare to ask aloud, he understood that she didn't know what was happening either.

"Don't play dumb with me Mel. You know you can't fool me"

"Noah..."

"Shut up Peter"

"But Noah..." he insisted looking at the frightened girl.

"I told you to shut up"

That was when Noah finally looked at him and Peter knew that he wasn't going to lower his gun down and that he was ready to shoot if it was neccesary.

"Now Mel, you have two options: you come with me or I put a bullet in your head. Make your choice"

Peter opened his eyes in surprise and looked at the girl again. She was cying and trembling. Her mouth was moving as she wanted to say something but any sound came out of it. She was hugging herself, her hands always shaking.

"I don't know... what you are talking about..." she managed to articulate "My name is Claudia... I don't know any Mel..."

Her voice was shaking too. She sounded desperate and her tone was low, almost a wishper. Peter felt sorry for her. Noah didn't. He took a step closer and Claudia closed her eyes and sobed when she saw the gun closer.

"I'll shoot you. You know I will"

"Please..."

"I will shoot you Mel..." he warned her.

"I don't know what you are talking about..." she repeated holding back her tears.

"Mel..."

"I DON'T KNOW ANY MEL!" she shouted in desperation and sobed in silence trying to clam herself "Oh God... Please... Please, don't kill me..."

Peter didn't know what to do. Noah defenitley wasn't going to listen to him. But that girl was suffering, he was torturing her with non reason. She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Please... Let me go..." she begged.

Noah sighed in resignation and for a moment Peter thought that that was it. But no. He charged the gun and pointed again.

"I didn't want to have to do this Mel..."

She closed her eyes waiting for the shot but it never came. She heared a big noise and opened her eyes again to see that Peter had hitted Noah with a chair leaving him unconscious.

Peter looked the girl take her face in her hands and take a long breath.

"Are you ok?" he asked her because he couldn't see her face.

Her shoulders were moving and for a moment he thought she was crying, but after a while he discovered that she was... _laughing?_

"You shouldn't be that naive..." she told him, her voice totally different, without a trace of fear but mocking and malicious.

By the time he notticed the change she had already got up and trew him at the wall with just a wave. While he was recovering from the hit she run across the room, scaping. He got up and took Noah's gun, runing after her.

She was pretty fast. He chased her upstairs and saw her opening the access to the roof. He followed her and when he got there he saw her standing at the edge of the building. There was no scape.

"HEY!" he yell at her "Don't make a move or I'll shoot!"

He pointed at her with the gun to make his point clearer. She stayed still and then, slowly, turned her head around to look at him. He never stop pointing at her and he thought she was going to surrender, there was no way out anyways. But then, she did something unexpected. She smirked, she waved at him and... she jumped...

"NO!"

Before Peter had time to understand what was happening something came up flying out of nowhere and it took him some time to realise that it was her. She was flying... on a gargoyle... one of the gargoyles of stone that decorated the building...

The sound of the door behind him made him react. It was Noah.

"I told you not to trust her..." he said trying to catch his breath still a little hurted from the hit.

"What the hell was that?" Peter managed to ask.

"That..." Noah answered simply "That was Mel..."

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**I have to say it: I love Mel****, and it's not because I created her, hahaha… She's a funny character, you will love her too! All the mannequin and the gargoyle issue will be explained, I promise! And for thus of you who are wondering: **_**"Is the girl crazy or the mannequin is alive?"**_** I have to say: Yes, the mannequin is (and is not) alive… Hard to explain, you'll discover it later… but yes, she is kind of crazy too... **

**Don't worry about Nathat/Sylar... You are going to know what happened to them in the next chapter.**

**And I have to admit it: I kind of copy the scene where Matt finds Sylar holding ****his son and saying **_**"I want my body back..."**_** from the oficial trailer of season 4, sorry. But don't worry about spoilers anymore because my fic is going to be TOTALLY different from the original season. **

**So, ****that was it. Let me know what you think! Review, please!**


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